A terminal having a spring contact part in a box part is capable of securing reliable and stable spring contact pressure between this terminal and a partner terminal since the spring contact part is surrounded by the rigid box part. Moreover, if the spring contact part is plated with a conductive metal, then the terminal has an advantage such that the electrical resistance of a terminal's portion in contact with the partner terminal can be reduced.
The production method for such a terminal as a conventional example has been performed by the following procedures of: pressing a conductive parent material plate and punching out a prescribed shape (punch-out/pressing step); plating a portion of the punched plate of the prescribed shape, which will constitute the spring contact part (plating step); and pressing the plate of the prescribed shape and bending it to a prescribed form (bending/pressing step). The above-mentioned plating step is disclosed in PTL 1 (JP 2004-241728 A).